FOKEST SERVICE. 167 



to a much lower level. It would be far wiser to put the funds which 

 it is necessary to seek from Congress in the form of deficiency appro- 

 priations into the cost of keeping fires from becoming serious, 

 through greater outlays for fire prevention, early detection, and swift 

 concentration of fire-fighting forces. This subject is discussed in 

 further detail under the subject of "Protection." 



THE PERSONNEL SITUATION. 



While private enterprises have had to accept increased operating 

 costs as a result of the rise in the wage scale and in the price of 

 materials due to the war, the regular expenditures of the Forest 

 Service have perforce been limited to the amount appropriated by 

 Congress. The weight of the burden has fallen largely on the per- 

 sonnel; with conspicuous and devoted loyalty the bulk of our force, 

 outside of those who have gone into the Army or Navy, have chosen 

 to stand by the Service, although they might almost to a man have 

 obtained much better-paying positions elsewhere. This can not con- 

 tinue indefinitely, nor is it right that it should. The National 

 Forest force is now underpaid, and its members are hard pressed by 

 high living costs. Without relief, the standards of administration 

 and protection are bound to deteriorate greatly and rapidly. In- 

 stead of being allowed to deteriorate they should be raised. 



Even before the war the statutory salaries of a large part of the 

 National Forest force were below what men of the same caliber and 

 experience could readily obtain in private employ. That the turn- 

 over has not been larger has been partly because the work itself, with 

 its opportunities for rendering real and valuable public service and 

 the prestige and position of local leadership afforded, has appealed to 

 many men as partial compensation for the relatively low pay. 

 There has also been the hope and expectation that, with reasonable 

 time, the Forest Service would be able to give promotions which 

 would do justice to faithful and capable men. Further, the Service 

 has been fortunate in the possession of an espirit de corps which has 

 done much to hold its force together. 



Nevertheless, in the last few years it has been increasingly diffi- 

 cult to keep the men. Restiveness in the face of increased costs 

 of living and a wage scale based on the standards of eight years 

 ago has tended to develop. In certain classes of "positions particu- 

 larly, the Service has been almost a training school through which 

 men have passed to better-paying private employment. In general, 

 the more responsible positions are filled by men who entered the 

 Service when it was a young and rapidly expanding organization, 

 and when they themselves were young and unencumbered with 

 family responsibilities. Conscious that they have become more val- 

 uable with maturity and experience, and confronted with the neces- 

 sity of providing for growing families, it is natural that many should 

 turn to employment elsewhere when it begins to appear to them 

 that their prospects of material advancement in the Service are 

 doubtful. 



This personnel situation has been much aggravated by the recent 

 upward leap of living expenses and the great demand for men to 

 fill outside positions which have resulted from the war. Local 

 studies indicate that the cost of living has risen since 1914 approxi- 

 mately 60 per cent. Food supplies and clothing have in some localities 



